


Home

by uswnttrash



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2015-10-03
Packaged: 2018-04-24 13:11:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4920916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uswnttrash/pseuds/uswnttrash





	Home

\- California never felt like home to me -

Tobin never really understood the concept of having a home. It seemed more like a hassle to her more than anything else. Pipes leaked. Windows broke. Plumbing needed repairs. There were just so many details and so many areas of maintenance to worry about and she never saw the point. 

That's why she opted to live her life the way she did. Instead of setting roots down in a specific place, she set them down with specific people. She had her UNC friends throughout the country who she could rely on. She had her own family in the New Jersey area. She had her Portland family and USWNT family. She had her PSG teammates all over the world.

She was set. Her home was in the people she had all over the world. There was no need to worry about anything. 

It became noticeable though that once she and Alex started living together in Portland that some of those homes around the world were abandoned in the sense that she didn't visit as frequently. It was a slow process but somewhere along two NWSL seasons ago Tobin found herself enjoying the sense of coming back to their apartment and ordering food or watching a movie on the couch or just doing nothing. 

After a 4 month long game of 'will they? won't they?,' the two finally crossed the just friends line. It made a lot of their national team and Thorns teammates a little richer since bets had been placed on when they would since the time they first moved in together. 

A year into their relationship Alex and Tobin moved into a little bigger of an apartment in a nicer area of Portland. Alex's mom helped them choose it and eventually helped design things a little bit. She knew how much Alex loved home and how Tobin was essentially a Californian at heart so she brought little pieces of California to their new place. 

Tobin still travelled though. She still visited the places she also called home. It made Alex feel a little off at first but she remembered that this is how Tobin was. She needed to travel and to move and it was never anything personal. But the more she did it, the harder it got and finally her breaking point was when Tobin went to California. She went with Kelley for some Stanford thing and that part didn't bother Alex at all because she was busy with some Nike event. It was the fact that Tobin had stopped at Alex's parent's house that bothered her slightly. 

Little did she know that Tobin stopped for one specific reason. She was welcomed with such open arms that she truly felt like this was home. Not the house itself but Alex's family. So when she showed them the ring and asked for their permission, she was overwhelmed with joy when she officially was deemed one of the family. 

Tobin flew back to Portland where she settled into her and Alex's apartment. She knew it was going to be a few hours before Alex got home so she had some time to prepare. There weren't any flower petals or candles or anything over the top. She just made sure to pick up Alex's favorite dessert from a local bakery and just sat patiently on the couch. 

As expected, Alex got in just before 11pm. She looked exhausted and Tobin couldn't quite read the expression that came over her face when she saw her on the couch. 

"You're back." Alex let out and there wasn't a wide smile like there usually was. "I figured you'd be at my parent's still, you know, without me."

"It's so nice to see you, too, Al." Tobin said as she stood up slowly. "Look, I'm sorry I went there without you and without telling you beforehand but I went for a really good reason." 

Alex just stayed quiet as she waited for Tobin to elaborate a little more. Tobin had to take a deep breath to steady herself before she walked over so she was right in front of Alex.

"Kelley's thing turned into something way bigger than she expected so I kind of left early to, you know, let her do her thing. I mean Christen was there which Kelley didn't expect so she'd be good if she was drinking. And come to think of it, they did seemed different when Christen got there…like how we were when we first got together…" The lightbulb suddenly went off in Tobin's head but she shook it slowly to focus back on the topic. "Sorry. I just..I don't know, Alex. I was there and I felt bad because they knew I was in the area."

Alex knew about Kelley and Christen and she resisted commenting about how clueless Tobin was sometimes because that would bring them back off topic. "Whatever. You could have at least told me before. I would have flew there or something after the event." 

Tobin walked over to Alex and placed her hands on her cheeks. "I'm sorry. If there's ever a next time, I'll tell you before, okay?" She paused for a moment. "Your mom actually asked if we could visit soon. I was thinking maybe next weekend since we don't have anything planned and we could drive. You know, do that little sight seeing trip you've wanted to do."

It was another travel opportunity but this time Tobin was involving Alex and how could she say no to that? 

So the next weekend came and the two of them packed up the car and prepared themselves for the almost 15 hour drive. Of course it was going to be longer than because they would be stopping but neither of them minded. It could be a week long drive and they would have been more than happy to spend the time together. 

Tobin was in contact with Alex's family for reasons bigger than just their visit and she also let Kelley and Christen know that they'd be around. 

It turns out that there wasn't much to see from Oregon to California except some roadside restaurants claiming to have the best coffee or the best pies. But they made the most of what they could until they finally saw the sign for Diamond Bar. 

Tobin was thankful she wasn't driving because this was when her nerves started to kick in. 

"Alex…" She said softly but it was loud enough to be heard over the song playing on the radio. Alex hummed in response and didn't take her eyes off the road. "Can you stop at the beach first? You know how much I love the view."

Alex didn't question it because she knew Tobin loved the view. Besides her parents' actual house, the beach was the place the two went to the most. They spend a good portion of the start of their relationship there when they were getting to know each other more and when they had a good amount of time off. 

The drive was short from there and they were now settled in the sand with Alex sitting in between Tobin's legs with her back up against her front. The nerves hadn't subsided at all and Tobin knew they weren't going to but she wasn't about to back out because this right here was home to her. She had honestly never felt so sure of anything in he life. 

"Alex." She finally managed to get out about 5 minutes into them sitting there. Alex turned slightly so that she could look back at her. "I love you." 

This caused a wide smile to form on Alex's lips and she shifted a little more so that she could kiss her. "I love you, too." It was moments like this that made Alex realize that Tobin was worth everything. She could travel the world every single day just as long as they still had moments like this and she still called Alex hers. 

Almost an hour went by and Tobin and Alex stayed just like this. They spoke every so often whenever they saw something but they mostly just enjoyed the company and the calming sound of the waves. Alex eventually sat up a little and told Tobin that it was probably best to head to her parents' place now. She was a little tired from the driving and all but she assured Tobin that they would be back here and that she could even give teaching her how to surf another shot. 

When they both stood, Alex leaned over to give her a quick kiss before taking her hand and starting to walk towards the car. The only thing was that Tobin didn't move and it caused Alex to stop and looked back in confusion. "What are you doing?"

This was it so Tobin took a deep breath and committed to it. "Remember when I told you that there was a good reason for coming here." After Alex nodded, Tobin continued. "I um...Christen was already here with Kelley. I knew she would be. I just needed an out so that you wouldn't keep pressing me about why I left Kelley. The only reason I came to California in the first place was to see your parents and Kelley was just more than happy to be used as an excuse. I wanted to talk to your parents alone, Alex. I wanted to show them how serious I was about you and how serious I am about our future. And you know what they did? They told me that they knew already. They knew everything and that I never needed to prove anything to them because I was already family." Tobin paused for a moment as she tried to keep her emotions in check. "They told me I was family and that's when I realized that I had another home and this one was the one I didn't realize I needed so much because it's part of you. This whole town and your parents' place. It's all part of you and it's part of what makes you the woman I love so much today. You're my home, Alex. You're my permanent home and everywhere else that I've called that as well matters but not nearly as much. And I'm sorry for traveling so much and making you think that I was never going to set roots down. I just want you to know that I'm ready to now because of you." She fumbled a little inside her jacket pocket but finally managed to pull the ring box out before she got down on one knee. Alex's eyes widened as a hand went over her mouth. "I came here a week ago to get permission and I wanted to come back to hopefully make it official so Alex, will you marry me?"

There were tears in both of their eyes at this point and Alex could only muster up a nod at first. She was thinking over Tobin's speech and knowing her girlfriend was never great with words made this whole thing mean that much more. She felt like an idiot for getting mad at Tobin a week ago because she was so struck by the fact that she came to get her parents blessing and that she was ready to finally settle down. 

"Yes." She finally managed to get out before Tobin placed the ring on her finger quickly and stood up to kiss her. The kiss last for a few moments and both of them groaned slightly when the moment was over. "I love you so much and I'm so sorry for being how I was last week and any other time you've traveled. I was just always so worried that you'd fall in love with a place or a person somewhere else and I'd lose you."

"You'd never lose me. Alex, I've been almost everywhere imaginable and every single time I'm there all I can think about is how lucky I am to get to go back to our apartment and get to be with you." This caused Alex to lean over and kiss her a few times before she let the last time linger for a moment or two. "I love you but we should go before your family and Kelley lose their minds because I texted them like two hours ago telling them we were here." 

"So everyone knew?" Alex said they started to walk back to the car and she leaned in a little into Tobin as she wrapped her arm around her. She could feel her nod. "I'm happy my parents were able to keep a secret but Kelley is so dead. I mean I'll thank her and everything but she is so going to get it the moment I see her with Christen." The two laughed for a moment before getting into the car. 

Tobin decided to drive this time since Alex had been before they pulled over. This gave Alex the change to hold Tobin's hand with the hand with her ring on it. As they both looked down at their joined hands, they both realized how this was the start now of something big. Not only were the fans going to go crazy but so were their teammates and everyone involved in soccer. Of course there would be negative comments as well but they were used to them by now. Besides, nothing else mattered to them besides their families and each other. Nothing and no one was going to destroy the home they built together and the one that seemed like it would always be growing. 

 

\- until I had you on the open road -


End file.
